In this paper, we present a disaggregated framework for the analysis of past and projected structural developments in the most relevant revenue and expenditure categories and the fiscal balance. The framework, in particular, distinguishes between the effects of discretionary fiscal policy and of...

We empirically assess the impact of competitiveness measured by unit labor costs for current account balances in the Euro area. For this purpose, we estimate a panel with annual observations from 2000 to 2013. Our findings confirm the importance of competitiveness: Higher unit labor costs growth...

The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) are shadowed by professionals and academic economists who provide a separate policy rate recommendation in advance of the central bank's announcement. We explore differences between shadow and actual committee decisions based on an...

The results from the second wave of the Eurosysystem's Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) indicate that Cyprus households experienced very large falls in their incomes and value of real assets between 2009/2010 and 2013/2014. However, despite their worsening financial situation...

We provide an early assessment of the Juncker Commission's contributions to the ongoing reform of the euro area. In doing so, we present a chronological summary of the reform process up to 2014. At the time, the euro area architecture had undergone many changes. These were mainly focused on risk...

The paper demonstrates that policy makers may have a precautionary motive to undertake more labor-market reform--and hence attain lower equilibrium unemployment--inside a monetary union than outside. The reason is a desire to reduce the utility cost of variations in employment when asymmetric...

The paper analyzes various mechanisms through which monetary union in Europe may affect unemployment. The focus is on the political incentives for labor-market reform. There will be more reform outside than inside the EMU to the extent that a national inflation bias can be reduced. But if there...

In this paper we compare alternative approaches for the construction of time series of macroeconomic variables for Unified Germany prior to 1991, and then use them for the construction of corresponding time series for the euro area. The resulting series for Germany and the euro area are compared...

This paper presents the methodological and statistical framework for macro-prudential analysis of the financial condition of the EU banking sector that has been adopted by the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). The framework is also a central component of broader financial stability...

In January 2007 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published, on an ad hoc basis, a series of financial soundness indicators (FSIs) based on a common methodology (the IMF compilation Guide) for 62 countries, including all 27 European Union countries. The European Central Bank (ECB), jointly...